Winter Is Just Beginning

A subtle winter chill
Gives a kind of physical thrill,
But really not a pleasant one.
Is it only the beginning?
Will it run and run,
As it did last year?
So cold it brought me fear
Of hypothermia.
At least I'm not on the buses now.

Arab Spring

We've blown old Libya all to crap,
While media spout a lot of pap
About an Arab Spring.
This story has a falsehood ring,
As covertly they weapons pour
Into Syria's sea of gore.
The Arabs are having the kind of Spring
That feels like bitter Winter.

When Arab youth rebel and riot
Our leaders think that's fine;
When British youths do just the same,
They're called disloyal swine.

Why are we told we should be pleased
By an Arab world in flames?
The Tory bloodlust's not appeased,
They keep on shouting blame
And threatening intervention.

The Arab population's grown
So fast it takes away your breath.
Malignant neighbours study this,
And want to see mass death.

Old Ways

The bosses have no mercy
On old ways of feeling.
The changes they've imposed
Have left the people reeling.

They've got the younger people fooled
They think this crap's their own.
They'll be lucky to survive
Until they are full grown.

Season's Greetings

It's too late for "Merry Christmas",
Too early for "Happy New Year",
We're lost in a kind of limbo
Of conventional good cheer.
I don't know what to say to folk,
Tongue-tied by an exotic fear;
So I mumble and I stutter,
My greeting is unclear.
Then I just say "Hello".

This was written and posted between Christmas and New Year,

in case anyone is puzzled. 

A Soldier's Wish

Let's hope that we don't keep the peace
In lands where it does not exist;
Where battles are raging without cease
And generals rule with an iron fist;
Where bullets fly,
And peacekeepers die,
And the idea of peace is pie-in-the-sky.
Let's hope the pols don't throw our lives away,
Just so they can mendaciously say
They did what they could for peace.

This is unusual for me in that it is fictional. The reader is to imagine it 

spoken by a soldier, which I have never been, thank God. It was inspired 

partly by the UN Secretary General calling for more UN troops for 

South Sudan. It is also due to a set of military memoirs I read a long 

time ago, whose author complained about being sent to keep non-existent 

peace and getting shot at by both sides.

Pols is an abbreviation for politicians, popular in the US. 

On a similar topic: Joining Up 

The Ballad of the Leader

"So tell me now", the leader said,
"What lies shall I tell this week?
I think I need some brand new fib
To help me subdue the meek."

His advisers puzzled and scratched their heads,
As the nation's outlook was bleak.
"Perhaps you could say you're on their side?",
Said the first one to dare to speak.

"On their side?" asked the leader,
"You must think them utterly daft.
I'm kicking the shit right out of them,
That's my pleasure and my craft."

"The bigger the lie the better,"
The daring advisor said.
"People are truly credulous,
In fact, they're easily led."

"They'll believe any lie that's repeated,
If you just say it often enough.
The more far-fetched the better,
That's the art of the outrageous bluff."

"I must set them at each other's throats,"
The leader cunningly spoke.
"Whip hatred up to fever-pitch,
Give them a scapegoat they'd like to choke."

"I've said that I care for all of them,
But that tale doesn't work any more.
The people are seeing through my bs,
To the ruthlessness at my core."

"Perhaps," the advisor suggested,
"You could say you love those who work hard."
"That's a fine idea," the leader replied,
"Among liars you are the bard!"

"I'll be on the side of those who strive,
And I'll claim that the poor are lazy.
I can save quite a lot of money,
By blaming the sick and the crazy."

Of course, this is about Hitler and Goebbels. Anyone who thought

it was about contemporary leaders should be ashamed :-)

To the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

When asked why they had given payouts to people who had sued them without due cause, the Met spokesman said that it was cheaper just to settle. The idea is dubious; publicising it idiocy.

A policy of settling lawsuits
Will bear a harvest of bitter fruits.
To ignore the merits of the case
Leads only down into disgrace.
Claims should not be settled thus
Or, with time, things will get worse.
Greasy chancers will appear,
And fire in lawsuits far and near.
Nuisance suits will form a blizzard
Till paying them off sticks in your gizzard.